No More Pallets
by lovelyplums
Summary: Joel teaches Ellie how to swim.


Ellie looked at herself in the mirror. She was wearing a black two piece bikini that was almost too big for her. Today was finally the day that she was going to learn how to swim. No more fucking pallets. She hated those things worse than canned peaches. She knew Joel made her get on them just to spite her.

She walked back out into the living room, blushing as Joel laid his eyes on her. Joel walked up to her smiling.

"Maria didn't do too bad of a job, did she?" he asked, pointing towards her bathing suit.

"Eh, it's a little loose, but it'll do. Remind me to thank her for making it for me." Ellie said turning to grab her towel off of the couch. She turned back around to Joel taking off his shirt and throwing it on the couch behind her. She stared, watching him grab his towel off of the stair rail. He was in pretty good shape still to be "old." She felt her face burning hot as she watched him carefully.

She jumped when Joel cleared his throat.

"You alright there, ma'am? You look like you seen a ghost." Joel said laughing, smacking her with the towel. She had been caught. Her face began burning again.

"Uh yeah, I'm alright." She said as she nearly ran out the door. At first, she didn't want to learn how to swim, but now, if it meant getting away from the awkward moment that just happened, hell, bring it on.

She waited for Joel outside, twirling her towel around in a circle in the air. She got dizzy and lost track of time, bumping into Joel, who had to grab her so she wouldn't bust her ass.

she stared up at him wide eyed, butterflies filling her stomach. Her breath hitched when he smiled down at her. First, the pallets, now this. All in spite of her. She knew he was doing it on purpose. That bastard. She couldn't remember the last time she had a crush on someone. Crushes were so silly.

He stood her back up, laughing as he walked toward the pond. All she could do was stand there dumbfounded.

"Well, you comin' or not? The longer you wait, the colder the waters gonna get." Joel yelled from the waters edge.

Ellie ran to catch up. She dropped the towel beside his on the bench before the nerves finally hit her.

"Uhh, Joel, I'm not sure if I can do this." She said, voice shaking. The butterflies were now twice what they were before.

"You can do it, I promise you'll be okay. Cmere." he said, holding out his hands.

Ellie stepped up to the edge, hands shaking as they reached out for Joel's.

"Alright, now we're gonna slowly walk into the water and if it gets too deep for you, just tell me, okay? He said in a caring voice.

Ellie let out a breath and nodded, slowly being led out into the water.

The water started to rise farther and farther. Soon, it was up to her waist, and it didn't scare her.

"See, what I tell ya? Nothin' to be scared of." Joel said letting go of one of her hands. She felt a ping of excitement in her stomach.

"Alright now, first things first, you need to learn how to float before anything else. Ima need you to lie back into the water and stay calm." Joel said.

"Joel, I can't do that, how do I hold myself up?" she said in a worried tone.

"Just lay back, and I'll keep you afloat, okay?" he said reassuring her.

Ellie leaned back, bringing her legs up to the top of the water. She felt his hands slide across her back. She shivered at his touch.

"You okay?" he asked softly, looking down at her with a smile. "Yeah, this isn't half bad." She said looking up at him with one eye open.

Ellie closed her eyes, feeling the sun beat down on her face. It felt nice, having the cool water and his hands to soothe her.

Some time must have passed because when she opened her eyes, Joel was a couple of feet away from her. That son of a bitch let her go.

Ellie panicked, splashing about in the water, trying to get her bearings. Joel rushed to her side.

Joel laughed as he scooped her up out of the water. Ellie coughed up water while slapping him in the arm. She looked up at him. There goes those butterflies again.

"What the fuck, man. I thought you said you had me." Ellie yelled. Joel laughed, setting her back down in the water.

"I figured you were day dreamin' again." Joel said chuckling. Ellie went wide eyed as she realized what he meant.

"I was not day dreaming, shithead. The water felt nice and I kind of drifted off in my thoughts." She said matter-of-factly.

"Drifted off into your thoughts" Joel said laughing while air quoting. "sounds like day dreamin' to me." he said as she rolled her eyes, blushing.

He took hold of her hand, pulling her towards the deeper end.

"Alright, since you can float, time to learn how to swim." he said as he pulled her along.

"Now, Lean forward and push off with your feet on the ground. when you push off, use your arms and legs to keep going." he said demonstrating.

Ellie tried to repeat what Joel did, but all she managed to do was make a big splash.

Joel laughed before showing her again. Ellie tried once more, actually doing it correctly this time.

"There you go!" Joel yelled, smiling from ear to ear. Ellie sat up in the water, yelling "fuck yeah" at the top of her lungs.

Joel held up his hand, motioning for Ellie to give him a high five. Ellie dove for his hand, slapping it before plopping down hard in the water.

Joel laughed as he splashed water in her face when she came back up for air.

"You motherfucker!" Ellie yelled, laughing as she dove for him. She slammed right into his chest. He didn't budge an inch.

He grabbed her arms, still laughing. Ellie looked up at him, smiling the biggest she has in a long time.

He laughed, looking down at her.

"Thanks Joel, Now we don't have to worry about those stupid ass pallets anymore." She said as he moved his hands down to hold hers.

He swung their hands back and forth.

"Yeah, I knew you hated those things so that's why I wanted to go ahead and teach you. Plus, it was a hassle trying to find them. I can say, though, that Ima miss annoyin' you with them.

"you ass, I knew it!" she said smacking him in the chest. Ellie was right all along. He did it just to spite her. Now all she had to do was get him to admit that he was egging her crush on. But she knew that was never going to happen, right?

Joel laughed as he pulled her along out of the water.

He let go of her long enough to scoop up the towels off the bench, before walking off hand in hand.


End file.
